Maiduguri: The curfew and the killing
Nigeria, as we have it today, is a country rattled with the spikes of insecurity, and so we cannot say just enough about it's insecurity. The situation is incessant, almost throwing into an immediate stupor every right thinking citizen.
Every day, we get inundated with news of one security hitch or the other. If not the noise about banditry and of marauding killer herdsmen, it is about the blowing tantrum of terrorism, insurgency-related abductions and kidnap for ransom. We do not rest. Nigerians as it's appeared have become a people denied of sleep, even when they rightly should.
The terror inflicted by terrorists has seemed to stand out, for there's no day that passes by without a sneeze of their horror. It's either they have kidnapped some people- traveling and residents in their homes and villages, or they have descended with such diabolism upon their captives to behead and maim or they're heard to have attacked a people and/or community to blast, kill and pillage.
The situation, the incident, goes on and on, sending horror and spines to ears that hear of it.
And just recently, on the 9th of February, 2020, the worst again was heard to have happened- by the same terrorists that have chosen to hold this nation and its people by the jugular. Boko Haram attacked a people who were said to be travellers as they met a closed city gate, which had prevented them from gaining access into their final destination. They were stranded and apprehensive of their uncertain fate in the open when they were surrounded by the insurgents, who just opened fire on them.
The night had seen a devastating kind of horror, as many people were shot to their deaths, and cars obviously conveying the travellers burnt. More pathetic that some more, including children, were charred to death with their withered bodies trapped in the burnt buses.
This happened just near the city gate in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Borno state has been the hotbed of the reign of terror that has been visited upon this country by the Boko Haram sect. Talking about terrorism in the north-east of Nigeria is as emphatically saying terrorism in Borno state. The precarious situation, which failure to abet has wowed the Nigerian security outfits, resulted in a deviced effort aimed at stemming the influx of this mesmeriszation into main town.
The military constructed a gate around the entrance of the Maiduguri city center to checkmate individuals coming in and to ward-off any sinister attacks from the insurgents, who mostly operate around and from neighbouring villages. This gate has times of the day when it's open for movement; there's a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am. So, everyone seeking entrance outside of this period is made to wait till when the curfew lapses.
This places and has continued to place travellers under huge life-threatening risk. And so was the case of the travellers, who had returned to Maiduguri that evening to meet a locked gate. In upholding policy, the military refused to let the gate open.
Should the people be blamed for taking the risk to make a travel that would get them to meet a locked gate, when they are aware of such existing policy? The people could to an extent be blamed, and that's if they took this risk obvious of the implications. This set of the travellers should have known better than to have poked the monstrous lion straight to the mouth. It was fatally risky of them.
But what of those who possibly couldn't have known of this policy, and those who couldn't have imagined that they'd not reach so early to beat the curfew and very much needed to embark on such journey. Should they also be blamed for their ignorance and miscalculation?
In the other hand. Should the military be blamed for taking such strict step that eventually had caused so much lives as they would have intended to protect? Of course, the curfew was to restrict unchecked movement and ultimately prevent unexpected terror attacks on city dwellers. But, would they have done it better? I think they could have.
As responsible agents of the government, whose primary duty is to protect its citizenry, the very security agents stationed in this area should have done well to have provided security for this travellers, who later became stranded. Yes, there was a curfew and yes, the people ought to have known.
But, yet, I believe strongly that it's the function of government to go it out in providing for the people's welfare and standing in for whatever maybe obvious weakness that could impact on their welfare. And I believe particularly in this case, the security outfit that had instituted the 'lock-gate policy' should have taken extra measures to cushion the effects of these travellers' miscalculation and ignorance while similarly extricating surreptitious terrorists.
Overall, the killing of the more than 20 travellers and the burning of their vehicles further call on the federal government to live out boldly to its responsibility of providing its people the needed security to move around freely and do their legitimate businesses. And to this, it must wake up!
Every day, we get inundated with news of one security hitch or the other. If not the noise about banditry and of marauding killer herdsmen, it is about the blowing tantrum of terrorism, insurgency-related abductions and kidnap for ransom. We do not rest. Nigerians as it's appeared have become a people denied of sleep, even when they rightly should.
The terror inflicted by terrorists has seemed to stand out, for there's no day that passes by without a sneeze of their horror. It's either they have kidnapped some people- traveling and residents in their homes and villages, or they have descended with such diabolism upon their captives to behead and maim or they're heard to have attacked a people and/or community to blast, kill and pillage.
The situation, the incident, goes on and on, sending horror and spines to ears that hear of it.
And just recently, on the 9th of February, 2020, the worst again was heard to have happened- by the same terrorists that have chosen to hold this nation and its people by the jugular. Boko Haram attacked a people who were said to be travellers as they met a closed city gate, which had prevented them from gaining access into their final destination. They were stranded and apprehensive of their uncertain fate in the open when they were surrounded by the insurgents, who just opened fire on them.
The night had seen a devastating kind of horror, as many people were shot to their deaths, and cars obviously conveying the travellers burnt. More pathetic that some more, including children, were charred to death with their withered bodies trapped in the burnt buses.
This happened just near the city gate in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Borno state has been the hotbed of the reign of terror that has been visited upon this country by the Boko Haram sect. Talking about terrorism in the north-east of Nigeria is as emphatically saying terrorism in Borno state. The precarious situation, which failure to abet has wowed the Nigerian security outfits, resulted in a deviced effort aimed at stemming the influx of this mesmeriszation into main town.
The military constructed a gate around the entrance of the Maiduguri city center to checkmate individuals coming in and to ward-off any sinister attacks from the insurgents, who mostly operate around and from neighbouring villages. This gate has times of the day when it's open for movement; there's a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am. So, everyone seeking entrance outside of this period is made to wait till when the curfew lapses.
This places and has continued to place travellers under huge life-threatening risk. And so was the case of the travellers, who had returned to Maiduguri that evening to meet a locked gate. In upholding policy, the military refused to let the gate open.
Should the people be blamed for taking the risk to make a travel that would get them to meet a locked gate, when they are aware of such existing policy? The people could to an extent be blamed, and that's if they took this risk obvious of the implications. This set of the travellers should have known better than to have poked the monstrous lion straight to the mouth. It was fatally risky of them.
But what of those who possibly couldn't have known of this policy, and those who couldn't have imagined that they'd not reach so early to beat the curfew and very much needed to embark on such journey. Should they also be blamed for their ignorance and miscalculation?
In the other hand. Should the military be blamed for taking such strict step that eventually had caused so much lives as they would have intended to protect? Of course, the curfew was to restrict unchecked movement and ultimately prevent unexpected terror attacks on city dwellers. But, would they have done it better? I think they could have.
As responsible agents of the government, whose primary duty is to protect its citizenry, the very security agents stationed in this area should have done well to have provided security for this travellers, who later became stranded. Yes, there was a curfew and yes, the people ought to have known.
But, yet, I believe strongly that it's the function of government to go it out in providing for the people's welfare and standing in for whatever maybe obvious weakness that could impact on their welfare. And I believe particularly in this case, the security outfit that had instituted the 'lock-gate policy' should have taken extra measures to cushion the effects of these travellers' miscalculation and ignorance while similarly extricating surreptitious terrorists.
Overall, the killing of the more than 20 travellers and the burning of their vehicles further call on the federal government to live out boldly to its responsibility of providing its people the needed security to move around freely and do their legitimate businesses. And to this, it must wake up!
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